Paris On Her Modeling Heyday

Paris Hilton On Sneaking Out Of The House To Model During Her Teen Years

When said out loud, "Fashion Week" has a double meaning — and for anyone who's ever been a part of all the action, feeling weak is not only par for the course, it's often the reason we love fashion to begin with. So, in honor of the moments of chaos, beauty, and excitement that made us feel weak, we present My Fashion Week-ness: a compilation of accounts from some of the industry's biggest players. They're spilling their most memorable stories from Fashion Weeks gone by, and the ones that keep them coming back for more.

To think that Paris Hilton used to walk the same runways as supermodels like Naomi Campbell might be a surprise to those of a younger generation (Z), but to those of us who were lucky enough to grow up with the heiress-turned-millionaire mogul, it recalls memories of a wilder time in pop culture. It's a time that we look back on fondly; and, luckily for us, Hilton still frequents some major runways today (more so as a pop culture icon, of course, and less as a full-time runway model like then).

When we got to see her signature strut down the catwalk at Christian Cowan's debut this season, we couldn't help but ask her if it reminded her of her Heatherette days of the early aughts. Cowan's creations — especially those looks that included metallic stars and pink rhinestones — seemed to be designed for the legend herself.

"Since I was a teenager, my sister and I always walked in the Heatherette shows and other big shows. At Heatherette, there were the craziest outfits —Naomi Campbell and all the models would be wearing, like, stars and that's it. [The clothing was] literally nothing. I was scared my mom and dad were gonna get mad at me. They didn't want me to be a model when I was little, so I had to sneak out. I snuck out."

"They were like, 'You just need to go to school and study. You don't need to be a model,' and I was like, 'Yes, I do.' I love it. It's fun. But now, I'm a grown-up. I can do what I want, and I won't get yelled at by my parents. But it's still so fun. I love fashion. I'm a designer. I have 19 product lines, so now, I [fashion is] not only for pleasure, but for work and inspiration. Fashion is and always will be a huge part of my life."

As for the outfit that makes Hilton feel most confident? "A sexy pair of leather pants, high boots, a Paris Hilton-brand push-up bra, lots of cleavage, a dope leather jacket, and sick black sunglasses. That's how I feel like a boss."